Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Friday said that the State experienced a sea change over the last 13 years and has emerged as a vibrant economy overcoming two decades of conflict and economic stagnation.
“There has been a visible transformation all around. Insurgency has dwindled, agricultural productivity has increased significantly, road connectivity has penetrated to new areas, economic activities have picked up momentum and employment avenues have been increased manifold,” said Mr Gogoi in his Independence Day speech after ceremonial hoisting of the tricolour in Guwahati.
Thousands of people braved incessant rains and boycott call by insurgent outfits to celebrate the Independence Day in the city and other parts of the state. In the city school students braved incessant rains to present folk dances and other cultural items at the raindrenched venue to add to the enthusiasm of the crowd that gathered to take part and witness the official celebration of the Independence Day.
The Chief Minister said that the State Government had been continuously working to ensure that the security situation improved despite many challenges. He said that people, who believed in violence and extremism, had been trying to disturb the peace amongst different communities by killing innocent people through terror strike but the state administration had dealt with the situation firmly, thereby preventing spread of violence and foiling the heinous designs of such elements.
He pointed out that inclusive strategies adopted by his government to bring “misguided youth” back to the fold resulted in as many as 13 extremist outfits laying down their arms and joining the mainstream. ‘While being firm in dealing with law and order and extremist violence, efforts are still on to persuade the other remaining outfits to come forward for negotiations for which the doors are open," he said and appealed to the outfits to come forward for talks for resolution of their problems through dialogue and discussion.
Mr Gogoi, however, said that despite improvement in the law and order scenario, the situation in Bodoland Territorial Area District (BTAD) remained an area of concern. He said that some extremist outfits and forces inimical to India had been trying to create communal disharmony in BTAD and his government would firmly deal with any such attempts. “Our government has been able to sustain peace and stability in the State despite many attempts by extremists and militant elements to terrorise people by acts of violence,” he added.
He also appealed to end bandh culture in the state and pointed out that a recent study had revealed that loss due to frequent bandhs was estimated to be around Rs 10,000 crore alone in 2012 only.
